bonnie bedelia

'Parenthood' (Tue., 10PM ET on NBC) deals with family drama and generational conflict. Through all the dysfunction, one man is the rock-steady leader of the Braverman clan. That man is Adam Braverman -- father, husband, employee. But what happens when this "rock" finds himself in a very hard place?

[Warning: Spoiler alert.]

Adam (Peter Krause) is facing trouble at home and at work. He has a boss who doesn't respect him, a kid suffering from a developmental disorder, and an occasionally overbearing wife. Adam's eight-year-old son Max (Max Burkholder) has Asperger's syndrome -- a form of autism which makes it hard for him to interact socially.

When Adam and his dad (Craig T. Nelson) go to the supermarket, Max sees a stranger put seventeen items in the "10 Items or Less" checkout lane. Max starts patiently removing the seven extra items, one by one -- and over and over again. The annoyed stranger yells, complains, then snaps and calls Max a "retard." Which is when Adam also snaps -- and decides he's not gonna be a nice guy anymore.

The drama 'Parenthood' (Tue., 10PM ET on NBC) is all about family -- in case you couldn't have guessed that already from the title. But sometimes, parenthood can take many unusual forms. On the latest episode of the show, Crosby Braverman (Dax Shepard) introduces his son to his parents (played by Craig T. Nelson and Bonnie Bedelia). Things don't go necessarily as everyone might want, but that doesn't mean that things go badly.

(S01E02) "I can deal with anything: disease, illness, broken bone. Give me something I can fix, but I don't know how to deal with this. This is for life." - Adam to Kristina after learning that Max has Asperger's Syndrome

Ferris Bueller once said, "Life moves by pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

And while that bit of movie trivia is actually true (unlike say "Stupid is as stupid does" or "Pain don't hurt"), if actual life went at the speed that 'Parenthood' does, stopping to look at it would require some kind of anti-lock braking system.

(S01E01) There are moments in 'Parenthood' that are so uncomfortably realistic that you might think it's a re-telling of the PBS series 'The Loud Family.' Yes, it's that real in some ways, but is it entertaining and inviting? Would you want to keep up with the Bravermans week after week? That depends. The show offers promise, but it's a jell-o that's yet to be jelled.

It would be hard for any series to go wrong with Lauren Graham and Peter Krause and Craig T. Nelson top-lining the cast. They all acquit themselves well, although the characters are all under more pressure than a pressure cooking with a faulty lid. You just sense explosions around every corner. And that's the way it is with a lot of pilots, especially where there's so large a cast.

After what has been a long time coming, NBC's new version of 'Parenthood' is finally premiering tomorrow night. And if the anticipation wasn't already high, TV Squad received an unexpected, very nice little invitation to tune in from Opie himself. Or Richie Cunningham if you prefer.

Yes, that's right, Ron Howard, the executive producer of 'Parenthood,' did a handful of shout-outs to the media and we were included. Aren't we special?

NBC seems to be sending out their screeners in dribs and drabs, so I'm making my way through their fall offerings very slowly. I've already given you previews of both Community and Trauma, and now we've got Parenthood, a new series based on a movie that was already turned into a series nearly twenty years ago. Who says Hollywood is out of ideas?